More of The Best Ab Exercises

The abdominal muscles are made up of the rectus abdominis, obliquis internus abdominis, obliquis externus abdominis and transversus abdominis.

These muscles form the abdominal wall,the purpose of which is to support and maintain stability of the front of the abdomen and help maintain erect posture.

In many athletic activities and just day to day activities, these trunk flexors are prime contributors to the action and you should choose the best ab exercises that will work all of the abdominal muscles.

Doing crunches alone simply isn't enough as the target is the rectus abdominis so try several variations of the best ab exercises that target all of the muscles in the mid-section.

Here are some more of the best ab exercises.

Heel High Twisting Sit-Up

Lie on the floor and place your lower legs on top of a bench with your feet over the side. Position yourself close enough to the bench so your thighs are at about a 45 degree angle.

Put your hands behind your head and your chin on your chest. Twist your upper body to the right as you inhale and raise your torso upward as close to your thighs as possible bringing your elbow to your left knee.

Return to the starting position and exhale.

Do the prescribed number of reps on the right side and then change positions doing the same number of reps on the left side.

Heel High Alternating Twisting Sit-Up

Lie on the floor and place your lower legs on top of a bench with your feet over the side. Position yourself close enough th the bench so your thighs are at about 45 degrees. Put your hands behind your head and your chin on your chest.

Twist your upper body to the right as you inhale and raise your torso upward as close to your thighs as possible. Return to the start position and exhale.

Now twist your upper body to the left as you inhale and raise your torso upward as close to your thighs as possible. Return to the start position and exhale.

A movement to the right and left is considered one rep.

Weighted Heel High Sit-Up

Lie on the floor and place your lower legs on top of a bench with your feet over the side. Position yourself close enough to the bench so your legs are at about 45 degrees.

Place a weight behind your head and put your chin on your chest. Inhale as you pull your torso up as closely to your upper thighs as possible.

You then return to the starting psotion and exhale.

Do not swing your body up and down but concentrate on using the abs and erectors to do the work.

Weighted Heel High Compound Sit-Up

Lie on the floor and place your lower legs on top of a bench with your feet over the side. Position yourelf close enough to the bench so your thighs are at about 45 degrees. Place a weight behind your head and your chin on your chest.

Twist your upper body to the right as you inhale and raise your torso upward as close to your thighs as possible. Return to the starting position and exhale.

Now twist back to a straight position and raise your torso upward as close to your thighs as possible. Return to the starting position and exhale.